Maisons-Laffitte
Maisons-Laffitte | |
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 Coat of arms
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 Location (in red) within Paris inner and outer suburbs
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Location of Maisons-Laffitte
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  Maisons-Laffitte  Maisons-Laffitte | |
| Coordinates: 48°56′49″N 2°08′44″E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Île-de-France |
| Department | Yvelines |
| Arrondissement | Saint-Germain-en-Laye |
| Canton | Sartrouville |
| Intercommunality | CA Saint Germain Boucles Seine |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–2026) | Jacques Myard (LR) |
| Area 1
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6.75 km2 (2.61 sq mi) |
| Population
(Jan. 2020)
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23,204 |
| • Density | 3,400/km2 (8,900/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code |
78358 /78600 |
| Elevation | 22–57 m (72–187 ft) (avg. 38 m or 125 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Maisons-Laffitte (French pronunciation: [mɛzɔ̃ lafit] ) is a commune in the Yvelines department in the northern Île-de-France region of France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of northwestern Paris, 18.2 km (11.3 mi) from its centre.
Maisons-Laffitte is famous for the Château de Maisons-Laffitte, built by architect François Mansart in the 17th century, and its horse racing track, the Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse. Église Saint-Nicolas was built between 1867 and 1872.
History
Originally called Maisons-sur-Seine (meaning "Houses upon Seine"), the commune was officially renamed Maisons-Laffitte in 1882 in honour of banker Jacques Laffitte who financed the housing developments on the estate of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte.
The Château de Maisons-Laffitte has a secret passage to what once used to be part of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte but which is now a school – Collège de l'Ermitage.
Population
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| Source: EHESS and INSEE (1968-2020) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Landmarks
Maisons-Laffitte is famous for the Château de Maisons-Laffitte, built by architect François Mansart in the 17th century. Maisons-Laffitte is also known for its horse racing track, the Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse, which is why the town is known as the "cité du cheval" and compared with Newmarket in the United Kingdom.
Église Saint-Nicolas was mainly built between 1867 and 1872 under architect Eugène Millet, on the land of an old cemetery. It was consecrated in 1872 by Jean-Pierre Mabile, the bishop of Versailles.
Transport
Maisons-Laffitte is served by Maisons-Laffitte station on Paris RER line A and on the Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare suburban rail line.
Notable residents
- Pape-Philippe Amagou, basketball player
- Grégory Baugé, cyclist
- Eugène Louis Bouvier, zoologist
- Jean Cocteau, writer, filmmaker, and artist
- Jerzy Giedroyc, founder and editor of a leading Polish-émigré literary-political journal, Kultura
- Philippe Jaroussky, opera singer
- Coralie Lassource, handball player
- René Le Roy (1898–1985), classical flautist
- Odd Nerdrum, painter
- Randy de Puniet, motorcycle racer
- Anne Queffélec, pianist
- Emma Watson (until the age of five), actress
- James Winkfield, jockey, horse trainer
- Ghislaine Maxwell, British socialite known for her association with Jeffrey Epstein
Education
Public schools:
- Six preschools/nurseries (maternelles): Bois-Bonnet, Clos-Lainé, Cocteau, Colbert, La Renarde, Montebello
- Four elementary schools: Jehan Alain/André Ledreux, Colbert, Le Prieuré, Mansart
- Junior high schools (collèges): Jean Cocteau and Le Prieuré
- Senior high schools/sixth-form colleges: Lycée Évariste Galois (Sartrouville) and Lycée Les Pierres Vives (Carrières sur Seine)
Private schools:
- International School of France / L'Ermitage (preschool to senior high)
- Sainte-Marie (preschool and elementary)
- Ecole Montessori Internationale
Twin towns – sister cities
Since 2023, Maisons-Laffitte is exclusively and reciprocally twinned with Arkadag city, Turkmenistan.